Subtitle translation: Top 5 mistakes in movies that made us laugh

Subtitle translation is not an easy job.

Subtitle translation is not an easy job. It is time-consuming and difficult work that requires experience and deep knowledge of both languages. Here are some examples of what can happen if a subtitle translator is tired and his proofreader is inattentive.

Subtitle translation: these mistakes made us laugh

Guardians of the Galaxy and 80 translation mistakes in Chinese subtitles. When Guardians of the Galaxy finally came to the big screen in China, lots of fans were ready to buy tickets to their long anticipated movie. But to everyone’s surprise, there were lots of mistakes in the subtitle translation. Critics and fans complained about the issue. Moreover, one Chinese fan wasn’t lazy and counted the total number of mistakes. There were more than 80 mistakes in the subtitle translation.

Oaks and Hobiks in Lord Of The Rings. This is a funny mistake in the English subtitles. What it was supposed to say was, “We are not orcs, we are hobbits”.

The Departed – Massage instead of Message. A funny but common slip – massage instead of message.

Gandolf Foogray in The Lord of the Rings . Does everybody know Gandolf Foogray? This could be a different story…

Find the weed … where? Gandalf? Find the weed in the cave of mine…

This is good evidence for why not to use machined subtitle translation. Thanks to these mistakes, a movie can unintentionally become a funny comedy. Even multinational companies that produce movies starring famous actors face the same problem: pure subtitle translation.

To make it better (subtitle translation) here are several tips:

Find someone who is fluent in both languages. It’s important to hire a professional subtitle translator with many years of experience.

Find a good proofreader who will check the translation and will understand if the subtitles are not translated word for word.

Contact a professional company that provides quality video translation services.